Yankees’ Bullpen Is the Key in a Slugfest

The Red Sox’ Jason Varitek was tagged out at third by Alex Rodriguez after being caught between third and home on a fielder’s choice in the second inning.

By TYLER KEPNER

Published: April 17, 2008

The Yankees’ flight touched down at 2:30 a.m. Wednesday. That is normally a time of little traffic at La Guardia Airport, but there was a slight delay in getting off the plane. The pilot informed the Yankees that the Boston Red Sox’ charter was just ahead of theirs on the tarmac.

So it is with these teams, in the skies and in the standings, never far apart. The Red Sox came to Yankee Stadium one game better than the Yankees, and after a flurry of hitting by both teams in a game that took 4 hours 8 minutes, they left with the same record.

Every Yankees starter scored at least one run, and the third-string catcher, Chad Moeller, had three hits. A dormant offense stirred, and a stellar effort from the bullpen overcame Chien-Ming Wang’s poor start to give the Yankees a 15-9 victory.

“It showed that we can win a game when our ace isn’t on that day,” said Brian Bruney, who got the last five outs for his first Yankees save. “Once these guys get going, they can put a lot of runs on real quick.”

LaTroy Hawkins worked two scoreless innings, Billy Traber retired David Ortiz with his only pitch, and Bruney took care of the rest. It was a two-run game when he entered in the eighth — a save situation — and then the Yankees piled on four runs against Mike Timlin.

The official scorer awarded Hawkins his first Yankees victory in his first game wearing No. 22. Hawkins changed his number Wednesday because some fans had booed him for wearing No. 21, which had last been worn by Paul O’Neill.

“The quicker it goes away, the better off we are,” Hawkins said of that issue. He was more talkative on the state of the bullpen, which has a 3.34 earned run average this season, compared to 4.97 for the starters.

“We’ve got some good arms down there,” Hawkins said. “People have to understand, sometimes when you go out there, things aren’t going to go your way every time. That’s what people lose sight of. But a good part of the time, we’re going to be all right.”

Wang was seeking his 50th career win in his 84th career start. The last pitcher to win 50 games faster was Dwight Gooden, in his incandescent days with the Mets. Gooden earned his 50th victory in his 82nd start, in 1986.

But Wang was not sharp. After tossing a two-hit complete game at Fenway Park last Friday, he allowed eight runs and nine hits in four innings. Manager Joe Girardi said Wang’s pitches were too low early in the game, and then they were too high.

“They didn’t swing at the first pitch; they waited for the high pitches,” Wang said, adding later, “I couldn’t find the strike zone.”

The Red Sox scored in the first on a double by Manny Ramírez, who is hitting an otherworldly .473 off the Yankees since the start of the 2006 season. But a two-run homer by Bobby Abreu gave the Yankees a lead in the bottom of the inning, and Alex Rodriguez followed by launching a Clay Buchholz fastball into history.

“He just got his hands extended,” Buchholz said, “and it was probably the longest ball I’ve ever seen hit.”

The blast carried onto the netting above the retired numbers in left center, giving the Yankees a 3-1 lead and pushing Rodriguez past the Hall of Famers Willie McCovey and Ted Williams on the career home run list. Rodriguez has 522 homers, good for 15th place, with Jimmie Foxx next at 534.

The Yankees, whose 15 runs were the most at home against Boston since July 7, 1954, knocked out Buchholz in the fourth, with Moeller’s broken-bat bloop double a big blow. Moeller has caught three games for the Yankees — all victories — and he has reached base more than half the time.

He is likely to start again Thursday, with Jorge Posada not catching because of a weakened shoulder and José Molina still nursing a hamstring strain. Moeller, who has played for six major league teams, said he felt no pressure beyond helping on defense.

“It’s a nice feeling when everything you do up there is a true bonus,” Moeller said. “Normally they don’t actually mean it, but here, it’s the truth.”

Even after the Yankees knocked out Buchholz and built their lead to 7-3 in the fourth inning, Wang could not get an out in the fifth. The first five hitters he faced in the inning had hits, and none of them were cheap. Each one was smoked off the barrel of the bat, an obvious sign that Wang’s sinker was not running as it usually does.

Ross Ohlendorf took over with a 7-6 lead, but hits by Sean Casey and Dustin Pedroia put Boston ahead by two runs. The Yankees charged back with four runs off Julián Tavárez in their half of the fifth, taking the lead when Boston could not double up Melky Cabrera with one out.

A wild throw by Julio Lugo on the attempt scored another run to put the Yankees ahead by two, 11-9. Hawkins relieved Ohlendorf in the sixth, entering to little fanfare, one way or the other, when his No. 22 was announced.

The fans could not ignore his performance. Hawkins retired six of the seven hitters he faced, bringing order to a game that was lacking it and helping lift the Yankees to a wild victory.

News source：http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/17/sports/baseball/17yankees.html?_r=1&ref=baseball&oref=slogin